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BeatBuddy: The First Guitar Pedal Drum Machine

A new guitar pedal which gives guitarists and bassists hands-free access to sampled drum beats has been launched.

BeatBuddy is the world's first guitar/drum machine hybrid which features various preset drum sounds and can also be programmed to fit any song or improvisation via its tap controlled system.

Designed by David Packouz the BeatBuddy concept was born of frustration at not being able to find a suitable stomp, David said (via GizMag):

"The closest thing I found was the Sound Master Rhythm 1. It had a total of 8 very bad sounding beats (think pong computer beeps), only an output jack, no fills, no rhythm changes, no accent hits, no tap tempo, and of course no computer interface. So I designed a system of signals where a musician can use a single pedal to start and stop a beat, add fills, transition to different song parts and add accent hits."

Beatbuddy's patent application was granted within a year and a team, which included engineers from TakDesign and BrioConcept, were assembled to begin work on the project. It took two years before Packouz and his team arrived at a pre-production prototype.

The drum sounds used in Beatbuddy come courtesy of Goran Rista of the GoranGrooves Studio.

BeatBuddy: The first guitar pedal drum machine

• Convenient: Plugs right in with your other pedals to play a drum beat through your amp. No mixer required!